Johan Svendsen 约翰·斯文森

挪威作曲家，指挥家。出生于奥斯陆。父亲是一个音乐教师。斯文森早年跟随父亲学习小提琴与单簧管。之后以在乐团演奏为生。他精彩的演奏引起了一个富商的注意，这个富商赞助了他前往莱比锡音乐学院学习。一开始学习小提琴，但是由于手疾使他改行作曲，师从于赖内克。毕业后长期在国外居住，在多个地方担任过指挥。他与他的妻子在纽约成婚，却常常发生争吵：据说一次他的妻子一怒之下将他接近完成的“第3交响曲”的乐谱扔进了火炉。这也导致了他们在1901年离婚。斯文森晚年放弃作曲，专心从事指挥。他的作品和同时代人格里格相比较更接近德奥浪漫主义主流风格。

Johan Severin Svendsen(30 September 1840– 14 June 1911) was aNorwegiancomposer,conductorandviolinist. Born in Christiania (nowOslo), Norway, he lived most his life inCopenhagen,Denmark. Svendsen's output includes two symphonies, a violin concerto, a cello concerto, and the Romance for violin, as well as a number of Norwegian Rhapsodies for orchestra. At one time Svendsen was an intimate friend of the German composerRichard Wagner.

His father was a music teacher and Svendsen learned both the violin and clarinet from him. By the time he finished school, he was working as an orchestral musician, and occasionally made short concert tours as a violinist. In Lübeck, on one of his tours, he came to the attention of a wealthy merchant who made it possible for him to study from 1863-67 at the Leipzig Conservatory. He began his studies with Ferdinand David, but problems with his hand forced him to switch to composition, which he studied with Carl Reinecke. He completed his studies in Leipzig in 1867, receiving first prize in composition. During this period, Svendsen had a son out of wedlock, Johann Richard Rudolph (1867–1933).

Gradually his attention turned to conducting. After spending time in Paris (1868–70) and Leipzig (1870–72), he returned to Christiania. In the summer of 1871, he went to New York City to marry Sarah (Sally, later changed to Bergljot) Levett Schmidt, whom he had met in Paris. He was conductor of the Musical Society Concerts in Christiania (1872–77), then spent three years in Germany, Italy, England and France. He returned to teach and conduct in Kristiania (1880–1883). In 1883, he was appointed principal conductor of the Royal Theater Orchestra in Copenhagen, where he lived until his death.

In 1884, he and his wife separated, and she moved to Paris. Their relationship had been chaotic for several years. A famous anecdote would have it that in 1883, in a fit of anger, she had thrown the only copy of his Symphony No. 3 in the fire. This incident was used by Henrik Ibsen in Hedda Gabler. If anything was caught up in the fire at all, it is rather unlikely it was anything near a complete symphony. However, some sketches, most likely for a symphony, were found by conductor Bjarte Engeset in 2007. They were elaborated and orchestrated by Bjørn Morten Christophersen and premiered by the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and Engeset in 2011. Following a divorce from Sarah (10 December 1901), he married (23 December 1901) Juliette Haase, with whom he had been living and had three children. His younger son from this marriage was the famous Danish actor Eyvind Johan Svendsen (1896–1946).

In stark contrast to his more famous contemporary and close friend, Edvard Grieg, Svendsen was famous for his skill of orchestration rather than that of harmonic value. While Grieg composed mostly for small instrumentation, Svendsen composed primarily for orchestras and large ensembles. His most famous work is his Romance for violin and orchestra, Op. 26. He was very popular in Denmark and Norway during his lifetime, both as a composer and a conductor, winning many national awards and honors. However this popularity did not translate into acceptance into the international repertory of classical music. He died in Copenhagen, aged 70.

Svendsen's first published work, the String Quartet in A minor, Op. 1, achieved great popular success. He quickly followed with the String Octet, Op. 3 and String Quintet, Op. 5, both of which added to his early fame. All of Svendsen's chamber music was written while he was at the Leipzig Conservatory, yet these works are not considered student works. By general consensus, Svendsen was regarded as one of the most talented students then at the Conservatory. His works won prizes and received public performances to much acclaim.

In parentheses, composition years and premiere place and date

About 50 other minor works, not included in his numbered catalog.

Letters by Johan Svendsen held by the State Archives in Leipzig, company archives of the Music Publishing House C.F.Peters (Leipzig).

From：https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/'>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johan Svendsen